Method of producing railway-rails.



H. "P. BROWN. METHOD OF Paonucme RAILWAY RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED F113. 4, 1$ )l1.

2 snnmssm:m 1.

Patented Feb. 2,

11" I z y H. P. BROWN.

METHOD OF PRODUCING RAILWAY RAILS.

' APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4,1911.

Patented Feb. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHBET 2.

Zwenor: WW4: WW

Wnewes: A

343cm) P. enown, or Mormonism, Newcomer.

METHOD OF PRODUCING RAILWAY-RAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Eatented Feb. 2, 1915.

s nean n filed February 4, 191,1. Serial, No. coat-zoo,

To (122 whom it may concern Be it known that I, HAROLD P. BnowN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Montclain-in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Methods of Producing Railway-Rails, of which the following is a specification. i 'Mv invention relates to the method of pro ducing railway rails, and more particularly to providing a railway rail with a wearing surface which shall have a greater resistance to, wear than the body of the rail itself.

' A practical embodiment of the,in\"ention is. represented in. the accompanying; drawrings in which, Figure l representsa portion of a railway rail showing the methodot depositing thereon a wearing surface by fusing a thin layer or. pulverized manganese and melting it into the metal of the'rail head or, by fusing, a mixture of manganese onid, aluminum and ironor steel filings and melting them on to or'into the head of the rail to form a manganese steel wearing surface. Fig. 2 shows in transverse section a. rail and means. for forming a wearing surface thereon lov melt-' ing pulverized manganese on the cleaned head Tithe rail and holding it in position by the steel clamp insulated from therail itself. Fig. 3 illustrates the method of welding s har or rod of manganese steel on the head of a rail and torming it in shape thereon. Fig.

illustrates the method of depositing man; ganese on the head of a rail by the use eta manganese electrode. Fig. 5 lllustrates the method, of rebuilding the lowjoints at the ends of the rails'with manganese steel, and Fi e. '6 and show cross sections of rails provided with manganese steel wear-resist= in layers on the top of the head and entire top and side of the head respectiyely.

Steel railway rails such as are in common use are subject to rapid deterioration and so great has the danger from wear and deterioration become that rails with from 12 to 18 per cent. of manganese have been put on the market for useon sharp curves or special work where the wear is abnormally great, but their use has been limited principally because of their high cost. This manganese steel is so't'ough that it cannot easily be worked with tools, files make no im ression on it and-holes cannot be drilled in it; On

the other hand, its stiffness is not so great as that f carbon steel, and rails made of it have heen'found to sagbetween their supports. l tsrate'ofwear, however, even on the most severe curves, is Very small. For instance, ontcurveswhere acarbon steel rail was practically worn out in from sixty to ninety days, a manganese steel rail has been In service for over three years wlth very slight wear.

The object oi my present invention is to retain-the stiffness and moderate price of the steel rails such as are now used, while at the same time proi iding these rails with wearing'surtia ces or manganese steel or its equivalent, to materially lengthen their life and increase their security.

My invention'is further directed to a method oi providing these rails with their wear-resisting surfaces without removing them-from their position on the roadbed as well as before they arelaid in the track. To this. end I have found that a strip of manganese steel, for example i to inch chick and, of t e width of the worn rail can he rapidly and cheaply welded to the head oi the rail, by using preferably the electric arc with from 90 to 300 amperes and from 40 to F5; volts. The are can be advanced alongthe rail, heating both the strip oi manganese steel and the upper surface of the steel rail to a welding temperature. This; method is illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, where the rail is denoted by, 1, the positive electrode, preferably of graphite, by 2, the holder for manipulating the electrode lo'y 3, a current regulator by 4-, source 91?, electricenergv by 5, and wires leading to the, positive electrode and to the rail hy Sand Z. The striphf manganese steel is denoted, by 8. The are 34 from the electrode 2 to' the rail. which welds the strip, to the rail, may he followed by a metal press 12 thrust downward by heavy pressure to compress the molten metal, and following this, a'reciprocating: hammer 9 to give a smooth wearing surface and to round the edge of the renewed rail on the gage line. Following this, a rapidly rerelying wheel 10 may he pressed against the surface with comparatively light pressure to complete the surfacing and give a curve to the edge to fit the flange of the car h se s rfa e may e n shed y ganese steel on to the surface of the rail,

the manganese steel alloy may be formed and simultaneously welded on, as follows:

- Referring'to the structure shown in Fig. 1,

the rail 1 has strips 13, 14, of magnesite or other highlv refractory material clamped to its opposite sides and projecting somewhat above the upper surface of the head of the rail. Between these infusible strips may be placed on the head of the rail, the proper proportion of manganese oxid, for instance, what is commonly known as per- .ox'id of manganese. aluminum and iron or steel filings 35. There should be sutlicient powdered aluminum,-for instance one-fifth by weight of the manganese oxid, to rob the manganese oxid of its ox gen, releasing the manganese to unite with the steel. Steel filings to theamount of ten per cent. of the weight of the manganese can be used. These can then be melted by the electric are 34' produced by an electric current through the wires 15, 16, from the source of electric energy indicated at 17. the wire 16 being electrically connected with the baseof the rail'and the wire 15, terminating in an electrode 18 in a support 19. which may be utilized to manipulate the'electrode to fuse the constituent elements of themanganese steel alloy and at the same time weld them to the upper surface of the rail.

In the event a new rail is to be surfaced, the method may be carried out as indicated in Fig. 2. where the rail 1 is insulated from the clamp by means of suitable insulating m:iterial- 20. and pulverized manganese. indicated at 21. may be held upon the head of the rail bv the clamp and a heavy current of electricit may be passed from the source 22. through the wires 23, 24, one connected with the rail and the other with the clamp above the powdered manganese and the powdered manganese thereby carried into the surface of the rail by the action of the heat and the current to form a wear resisting allov.- The temperature for this purpose should be from 500 to 800 F.

The clamp may be insulated from the sides of the rail head by suitable insulating pieces 25, 26. Again, the manganese may be deposited in the surface of'the rail directly from a manganese electrode 27, see Fig. 4, by means of the electric are 34, forming with the surface ofthe rail, manganese steel alloy. This is accomplished by moving the manganese electrode back and forth across the wearing surface of the rail, fusing the surface of the rail and at'the same time depositing manganese from the electrode into the fused surface.

Low joints in rails may be built up as shown in Fig.5, by first cutting away the ends of the rails on a slant, as indicated by the lines 28, 29, Fig. 5, then applying wedgeshaped pieces 30, 31, of manganese steel and welding these to the rail by theelectric are, as hereinbefore described.

When the constituents of the alloy are applied in the proper proportions and simultaneously melted together and-welded into the rail, the aluminum seizes the oxygen from the manganese oxid, forming a slag which rises to the surface and releases pure metallic manganese which will unite at once with the melted steel. After cooling, the slag which is an abrasive, can be easily removed since it is quite brittle, but any portion of it, extending into the surface of the rail will add to the friction coefficient and will also aid in resisting wear. Again, the friction coefficient can be increased by introducing carborundum in a powder or paste at the time the manganese steel is fused and welded on to the surface of the rail, or iron or steel filings mixed with an abrasive like carhorundum in powdered form can be melted into the surface of the railby the electric are, thereby materially increasing the wear-resisting quality of the surface.

Where the track is straight, the wear-resisting surface may be applied to the top of the head of the rail only, as indicated in Fig. 6, where the wear-resisting laminum or surface is indicated by 32, and where the rails are laid on a curve the wear-resisting laminum or surface may be carried along the top and down the inner side of the head of the outer rail as indicated by 33, Fig. 7.

lVhile I haveindicated the electric arc and prefer to use the electric are for performing the welding and fusing of the parts, other sources of heat might be employed with greater or lesser success, as, for instance, the oxyacetylene blow pipe or the gasolene torch with compressed gas, or the 4 welding can be accomplished by means of the welding apparatus using alternating current with a transformer and obtaining a welding current of great heating capacity from the secondary of the transformer, passing it through the metals to be welded. Again, although manganese steel is preferred as the wear-resisting surface, there are other alloys with wear-resisting properties greater than ordinary carbon steel. Among these would be vanadium steel, tungsten steel, chromium steel and nickel steel.

In carrying the method into practical effeet on rails located in a track, the intense heat of the arc is localized on the upper surface of the rail and the process may he so rapidly complete& that the temperature of the rail at he base will not injure the wooflen tie.

present practice a rail weighing sey 10G lbs. to the and 5 to 6 inches in height is now discarded and replaceo. when out i} of an inch worn from its head. my process the wearing; surface of this rail can he restorerl Without removing it i'rorn the track end the renewed rail will then withstand a longer period oi; service than at first on account of the Wear-resisting nature of the manganese steel head. J.

What I claim is:

1. The method of increasing the life of railway rails, consisting in simultaneously producing a steel alloy of greater Wear-resisting properties than carbon steel and Welding the same to the rail.

2. The method of increasing the life of railway rails, consisting in simultaneously prmiucing manganese steel and Welding it to the surface of the rail.

in testimony, that I claim the foregoing- 

